¹³ Joshua was near Jericho when he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and asked, “Are you a friend or an enemy?”

¹⁴ The man answered, “I am neither. I have come as the commander of the Lord’s army.”

Then Joshua bowed facedown on the ground and asked, “Does my master have a command for me, his servant?”

¹⁵ The commander of the Lord’s army answered, “Take off your sandals, because the place where you are standing is holy.” So Joshua did.

The Fall of Jericho

6 The people of Jericho were afraid because the Israelites were near. They closed the city gates and guarded them. No one went into the city, and no one came out.

² Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Look, I have given you Jericho, its king, and all its fighting men. ³ March around the city with your army once a day for six days. ⁴ Have seven priests carry trumpets made from horns of male sheep and have them march in front of the Ark. On the seventh day march around the city seven times and have the priests blow the trumpets as they march. ⁵ They will make one long blast on the trumpets. When you hear that sound, have all the people give a loud shout. Then the walls of the city will fall so the people can go straight into the city.”

⁶ So Joshua son of Nun called the priests together and said to them, “Carry the Ark of the Agreement. Tell seven priests to carry trumpets and march in front of it.” ⁷ Then Joshua ordered the people, “Now go! March around the city. The soldiers with weapons should march in front of the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord.”

⁸ When Joshua finished speaking to the people, the seven priests began marching before the Lord. They carried the seven trumpets and blew them as they marched. The priests carrying the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord followed them. ⁹ Soldiers with weapons marched in front of the priests, and armed men walked behind the Ark. The priests were blowing their trumpets. ¹⁰ But Joshua had told the people not to give a war cry. He said, “Don’t shout. Don’t say a word until the day I tell you. Then shout.” ¹¹ So Joshua had the Ark of the Lord carried around the city one time. Then they went back to camp for the night.

¹⁴ So on the second day they marched around the city one time and then went back to camp. They did this every day for six days.

¹⁵ On the seventh day they got up at dawn and marched around the city, just as they had on the days before. But on that day they marched around the city seven times. ¹⁶ The seventh time around the priests blew their trumpets. Then Joshua gave the command: “Now, shout! The Lord has given you this city!

²⁰ When the priests blew the trumpets, the people shouted. At the sound of the trumpets and the people’s shout, the walls fell, and everyone ran straight into the city. So the Israelites defeated that city.